Longtime Va. mental patient Chumil dies
César Augusto Chumil, 59, a mental patient in Virginia for more than 20 years who spent nearly all of that time in restraints or confined to a specially designed living area, has died.
Chumil died in a Northern Virginia mental health facility earlier this month after being moved there three weeks ago to be near his family, a spokesman for the family said this morning.
"He spent the last three weeks surrounded by his family," said Alex R. Gulotta, executive director of the Legal Aid Justice Center in Charlottesville, who had represented Chumil in a years-long effort to move him from Western State Hospital in Staunton.
Gulotta said Chumil died of complications from colon cancer, which had forced his hospitalization earlier this year and delayed his move from Western State to a treatment facility closer to his family in Northern Virginia.
A spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, while not identifying Chumil specifically, said this morning that providing the best care for Chumil had always been the objective of his caregivers.
Chumil first entered the state mental health system in December 1981; he was admitted in February 1986 to Western State Hospital, where he remained until his move to the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute three weeks ago.
Chumil, who spoke limited English, had been denied many basic rights, Gulotta and co-counsel Nathan J.D. Veldhuis alleged in years of legal proceedings that sought his release from and better care at Western State; Chumil was part of a federal inquiry into the improper use of restraints a decade ago.
Chumil's violent behaviors were documented for decades, but his family had always contended that his confinement and treatment angered him. He had been allowed to leave Western State with his family unrestrained for brief shopping trips, but only in recent months did state mental health officials agree to move him to Northern Virginia.
-- Bill McKelway
Reader Reactions
Thanks all for the insight. Sorry if I came across at insensitive as that was not my intent.
I do recall 125,000 refugees fleeing Cuba through Muriel in 1980. While the vast majority of these people were decent hard working folks, Castro also sent along prison inmates and mental patients.
There was no way that Castro was going to take back anyone that he deemed undesirable short of execution on the spot.
I am not anti-immigrant. One of my late grandfathers came to this country at age 10 from Ireland. My former late husband came from northern Italy at the age of 8. Both later became citizens and spoke excellent English as well as their native tongue. Two remarkable human beings that I will always carry in my heart.
@anonymous: There are many US Citizens that speak limited English, some naitives can’t even speak proper English so that part of the story has nothing to do with his mental illness. Unfortunately whatever his crimes were his mental illness was so severe that he had to be kept in a mental institution. Not all mentally ill criminals go to prison they end up in mental health facilities that can give them the proper care that prisons can’t.
I also searched for his crimes and couldn’t find any info just the information about his confinement.
I’m sure his family lived in pain for him and especially for a mother of Latin culture where the stigma of having a mentally ill child a very heavy burden to carry. May his family find peace in his passing.
Because he was “mentally incapacitated” he did not go to prison. He wasn’t deported because it wouldn’t be safe to go back to his native country. That should tell you something. I do not know what his original crime was, but he was definitely not safe to be on any street, even though the hospital let him go out with his family on occasion. He tried to hurt a family member on one of these trips too.
The deceased spoke limited English? Was he a citizen of this country?
If not, why was it necessary for the state to provide for his care for 20 years?
Why not just deport him to his native country and let that country pick up the tab?
Condonlences to the family.
Funny, I looked for 20 minutes trying to find the crime for which Mr. Chumil was charged which led to his extended psychiatric stay, but turned up nothing except for articles discussing his confinement. Anyone who knows, help us out. I think that would bear significance to the case.
He was a very violent man and was in the mental health system because of crimes he committed.
@lovesthevalley - I understand, but if he committed crimes, why was he not in prison?
@gofigure – Thank you for your reply. That’s why I asked my last question in my post. I would like to know more. Can you refer me to any history of Mr. Chumil’s case? As you may have figured out, I am an opponent of involuntary commitment.
He was a very violent man and was in the mental health system because of crimes he committed. He severely hurt many of the hospital staffduring his confinement, including his nurses, some to the point of them never being able to work again. He was in confinement for a reason. He had all the rights and the staff none. I am sorry for his loss to his mother, but otherwise not.
Travis… You don’t know the full story. Believe me it’s much more complicated then the few paragraphs of the story.
Chumil’s violent behaviors were documented for decades, but his family had always contended that his confinement and treatment angered him.
Of course! Unwanted confinement and “treatment” would anger anyone with a soul. What did Mr. Chumil do that warranted involuntary commitment for more than two decades? There is only one valid reason to deprive a person of liberty, namely, having committed a crime for which the person was sentenced to a prison term. Did this happen in Mr. Chumil’s case?
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